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CraigD

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Post and discuss interesting articles & videos about science and technology.

You don't need to be an expert - just interested in the wonders of modern science, technology, and the history of these fields.

Please keep it rational, and post articles from reputable sources.
Try not to editorialise headlines and keep the copy to just a paragraph with a link to the original source. When quoting excerpts from articles, I think the best method is to italicise the copy, and include a link to the source.

Have some fun with your comments and discussions... just keep the sources legitimate.

Other threads:
The Break Room has a number of other popular threads, so there is no need to post material here that is better suited to these other threads:

- Covid19-Coronavirus updates and news
- Conspiracy Thread Free For All
- The *religious* discussion thread


Please enjoy!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Australian lungfish has largest genome of any animal sequenced so far

The Australian lungfish has the largest genome of any animal so far sequenced.

Siegfried Schloissnig at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Austria and his colleagues have found that the lungfish’s genome is 43 billion base pairs long, which is around 14 times larger than the human genome.

Its genome is 30 per cent larger than that of the previous record holder: the axolotl, a Mexican amphibian that the team sequenced in 2018.


lungfishgenome_web.jpg



The new genomic analysis shows unequivocally that lungfish are more closely linked to the evolutionary line that gave rise to four-legged animals. Coelacanths diverged earlier, while lungfish branched off 420 million years ago.

“In order to get out of the water, you need to adapt towards a terrestrial lifestyle,” says Schloissnig. “You have to be able to breathe air, you have to be able to smell.”


The Australian lungfish is similar to amphibians when it comes to the raw number of genes associated with the development of lungs and articulated limbs, as well as the detection of air-borne smells.

“When you look at it from a genomic perspective, it is genomically halfway between a fish and a land-based vertebrate,
” says Schloissnig.
 
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Wet and wild: There's lots of water in the world's most explosive volcano

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-wild-lots-world-explosive-volcano.html

"There isn't much in Kamchatka, a remote peninsula in northeastern Russia just across the Bering Sea from Alaska, besides an impressive population of brown bears and the most explosive volcano in the world.

Kamchatka's Shiveluch volcano has had more than 40 violent eruptions over the last 10,000 years. The last gigantic blast occurred in 1964, creating a new crater and covering an area of nearly 100 square kilometers with pyroclastic flows."
 
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Elon Musk to offer $100 million prize for 'best' carbon capture tech

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/env...illion-prize-best-carbon-capture-tech-rcna234


"Tesla chief and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday took to Twitter to promise a $100 million prize for development of the “best” technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions."

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I want my prize:


Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...le-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions

"Planting billions of trees across the world is one of the biggest and cheapest ways of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists, who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas."

"As trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving global heating. New research estimates that a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions from human activities that remain in the atmosphere today, a figure the scientists describe as “mind-blowing”.
 
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Six Stars, Six Eclipses: ‘The Fact That It Exists Blows My Mind’

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/science/six-stars-eclipses.html

"The source, named TIC 168789840, is a system of six stars. That alone makes it a rarity, but what makes this sextuplet even more remarkable is that they consist of three pairs of binary stars: three different stellar couplets revolving around three different centers of mass, but with the trio remaining gravitationally bound to one another and circling the galactic center as a single star system.

In other words, scientists have found a sextuply eclipsing sextuple star system. The discovery, posted online this month, has been accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal."

It sounds amazing - and from reading the articles I still cannot figure out exactly how the system works.

Physicists and mathematicians will no doubt be scratching their heads over the equations for years to come.
 
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The Phantom Biosphere — “An Alien Life-Form May Exist Hidden in Earth’s Microbial World”

A Hidden 1st, 2nd, 3rd Genesis?

Just a Single Microbe of Life as We Don’t Know It

All it would take to settle the “question are we alone” Davies concludes, “is the discovery of a single microbe – just one – which represents life, but not as we know it. If we had in our hands (or rather under our microscopes) an organism whose biochemistry was sufficiently unlike our own that an independent genesis was unavoidable, the case for a fecund universe would be made.”

If life can happen twice, Davies suggests, it can happen a zillion times. “And that single alien microbe doesn’t have to be on some far-flung planet; it could be here on Earth. It could be discovered tomorrow, upending our vision of the cosmos and mankind’s place within it and greatly boosting the prospect that intelligent life may be out there somewhere.”


https://dailygalaxy.com/2021/01/the...might-exist-hidden-in-earths-microbial-world/


We've yet to find any evidence of a 'second genesis' which is why I am sceptical that life exists outside our solar system, but this is a very interesting article worth a read...
 
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Elon Musk to offer $100 million prize for 'best' carbon capture tech

I want my prize:

Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis

Nice try, but when the tree dies or wood burns, the carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

Next entry?
 
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A quarter of all known bee species haven't been seen since the 1990s

22-jan_lost-bees.jpg


The number of bee species recorded worldwide has been sharply decreasing since the 1990s.

Eduardo Zattara and Marcelo Aizen at the National University of Comahue in Argentina analysed how many wild bee species are observed each year as recorded in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility – a publicly available platform where researchers and citizens can record sightings of bee species.

They found that there were a quarter fewer species reported between 2006 and 2015, as compared with the records we have from before 1990.

The decline is especially alarming considering the number of bee records in this database has increased by around 55 per cent since 2000, so it isn’t down to a lack of observations.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2265680-a-quarter-of-all-known-bee-species-havent-been-seen-since-the-1990s/
 
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Nice try, but when the tree dies or wood burns, the carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

Next entry?
Yes, but they won't burn in the same amount and at the same time. In fact, with only the trees that have been cut down and without deforestation that have been made till today, the amount of CO2 in the air would be way lower.
Trees are the natural way to absorb CO2, and yearly deforestation will be definitely one of the causes for the next climate catastrophe. Not only they absorb CO2 but they produce oxygen, and we are destroying Earth's lungs.
 
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Yes, but they won't burn in the same amount and at the same time. In fact, with only the trees that have been cut down and without deforestation that have been made till today, the amount of CO2 in the air would be way lower.
Trees are the natural way to absorb CO2, and yearly deforestation will be definitely one of the causes for the next climate catastrophe. Not only they absorb CO2 but they produce oxygen, and we are destroying Earth's lungs.

Here's a question you might be able to answer:

Given that most plants uptake CO² and release oxygen during the day via photosynthesis and uptake oxygen and release CO² during the night via respiration, how much does this balance out?
 
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Given that most plants uptake CO² and release oxygen during the day via photosynthesis and uptake oxygen and release CO² during the night via respiration, how much does this balance out?
The result is clearly more Oxygen and less CO2:

The Power of One Tree - The Very Air We Breathe

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/03/17/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe

"A tree has the ability to provide an essential of life for all living things on our planetoxygen, and the power to remove harmful gases like carbon dioxide making the air we breathe healthier.

It is proposed that one large tree can provide a day’s supply of oxygen for up to four people.

Trees also store carbon dioxide in their fibers helping to clean the air and reduce the negative effects that this CO2 could have had on our environment. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, in one year a mature tree will absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen in exchange."
 
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Aliens could be sucking energy from black holes. That may be how we'll find them.

Aliens could be sucking power from black holes — and that could be how we'd spot the extraterrestrials, scientists say.

This energy-harvesting technology could leave traces just outside a spinning black hole's event horizon — the boundary beyond which a black hole's gravity becomes too strong for matter and energy to escape. And the process could explain at least some flares of plasma, a white-hot form of charged gas, that scientists have already detected near these massive disruptions in time and space. a new study published Jan. 13 in the journal Physical Review D proposes.

BB1d4rG1.img



And while it’s only a science-fiction idea at the moment — the nearest black hole to us is thought to be more than 1,000 light-years away, which is too far to be reached in many human lifetimes — if astrophysicists could ever work out a method of tapping these cosmic behemoths, rotating black holes could become a near-limitless source of energy for a technologically advanced civilization.

The co-author of the study, astrophysicist Luca Comisso of Columbia University in New York, said the next step will be to figure out what deliberate extraction energy from a black hole might look like to distant observers.

Doing so would allow Earthlings to potentially detect distant alien civilizations, Comisso told Live Science.
 
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The Phantom Biosphere — “An Alien Life-Form May Exist Hidden in Earth’s Microbial World”

We've yet to find any evidence of a 'second genesis' which is why I am sceptical that life exists outside our solar system, but this is a very interesting article worth a read...

The oldest life on earth, stromatolite (bacterial) layers on rocks, and the oldest fossils, zircon crystals, are billions of years old/er than humans... so perhaps we are the 'second genesis', and the first was crystal species that bonded -layer atop layer, with stromatolites.

What's more, in their billions of years of existence, I think they made First 'CONTACT' -with a silicon (AI) ET.
At this point, there ain't much 'official' evidence because the official researchers are primarily looking for intelligent carbon based aliens that communicate using radio -and build mechanical tech, like us. On the other hand, I am collecting and decoding (visual) communications evidence / specimens and hope to make a case soon.

Video features Robert Hazen. He founded & leads the Deep Carbon project covered in the post's article.

upload_2021-1-25_6-15-21.png
 
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Sophia the robot makers to produce THOUSANDS of bots by end of 2021

With her lifelike face and unusual sense of humour, Sophia the robot is one of the most famous androids around the world.

Now, her makers have revealed ambitious plans to mass produce thousands of humanoid bots by the end of the year.

Hanson Robotics, the firm behind Sophia, says that four models, including Sophia, will be mass-produced.



The firm hopes that its lifelike robots could provide company to those who are socially isolated amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sophia and Hanson robots are unique by being so human-like,' said David Hanson, founder and chief executive of Hanson Robotics.

'That can be so useful during these times where people are terribly lonely and socially isolated.'

Dr Hanson believes robotic solutions to the pandemic are not limited to healthcare, but could assist customers in industries such as retail and airlines too.

'The world of COVID-19 is going to need more and more automation to keep people safe,' he said.

Mr Hanson said he aims to sell 'thousands' of robots in 2021, both large and small, without providing a specific number.




 
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Fossilized skull reveals how crested dinosaur got its fancy headgear

First discovered in 1922 and best known for its distinctive crest, Parasaurolophus is one of the most recognizable dinosaurs -- a staple of childhood books and a background player in the Jurassic Park movie franchise.

BB1d4oDx.img



"Imagine your nose growing up your face, three feet behind your head, then turning around to attach above your eyes. Parasaurolophus breathed through eight feet of pipe before oxygen ever reached its head," said Terry Gates, a paleontologist from North Carolina State University's department of biological sciences, in a news statement.

The hollow tube on its head contained an internal network of airways and acted a bit like a trumpet.
 
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Google says it’s confident about alternatives to browser cookies that track you for ads

In the latest update on its plans to replace third-party cookies for advertising, Google said tests on one particular proposal look promising.

Google planned to share some new findings showing the effectiveness of its “Federated Learning of Cohorts” proposal that’s part of the Chrome browser’s “Privacy Sandbox” in a blog post running Monday. The “Sandbox” is an initiative launched in 2019 to find alternatives to the cookie while mitigating the impact on publishers and other players. In Google’s words, it was about finding a solution that both protects user privacy and lets content remain free available on the open web.


Not long after announcing the initiative, Google said it would be ending support for third-party cookies, which fuel much of the digital advertising ecosystem, in its Chrome browser within two years of January 2020.
 
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How modern pet dogs originated from wolves in Ice Age Siberia

newFile-1.jpg


... new research into the early beginnings of cuddly canines – and the long intertwined history between man and his best friend.

Man’s best friend – our four-legged canine pets – originated as Siberian wolves, according to new scientific research.

Until now, scientists only knew that dogs had evolved out of a wolf population somewhere in Asia or Europe – but the new research has now pinpointed the specific region where that occurred and the approximate date that the transformation took place.

A combination of DNA and archaeological evidence has revealed that every poodle, dachshund, chihuahua, alsatian and every other type of dog in the world originated as grey wolves in eastern Siberia in around 21,000BC.

What's more, it's likely that their initial domestication took place entirely naturally – and was not deliberately engineered by humans.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-wolves-siberia-where-come-from-b1792342.html
 
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The Indian village with 400 pairs of twins baffles scientists.

Kodinhi: A Kerala village with 400 pairs of twins that continues to be a mystery to researchers

Kodinhi, a remote and sleepy village in Kerala's Malappuram district, continues to be a mystery to researchers. This village has the largest number of twins in the country.



According to estimates, there are at least 400 pairs of twins in the village that has a population of 2000 families. While official estimates in 2008 pegged the number of twins in the village to 280 pairs, the number has only increased in the years that followed, residents point out. While the national average of twin births is not more than 9 in 1000 births, in Kodinhi, the number is as high as 45 in 1000 births.



The researchers collected saliva and hair samples from the twins to study their DNA. The study is simultaneously being conducted in Kodinhi, Hung loc commune in Hung Hiepfrom South Vietnam, Igbo-Ora in Nigeria and Cándido Godói in Brazil, where the number of twin births is high.

Prof E Preetham of KUFOS points out that though there are multiple speculations about why this could occur, nothing has been proved scientifically.

"While many say that it is genetic, there are also speculations that a particular element in the air or water in the village could be the cause of this phenomenon. As far as our study is concerned, we have collected the samples from people in Kodinhi and is in the process of collecting samples from the other communities too. As of now, the phenomenon is yet to get a scientific explanation," Dr Preetham said.
 
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New study unravels complete sequence of DNA repair mechanism

Every living organism has DNA, and every living organism engages in DNA replication, the process by which DNA makes an exact copy of itself during cell division. While it's a tried-and-true process, problems can arise.

Break-induced replication (BIR) is a way to solve those problems. In humans, it is employed chiefly to repair breaks in DNA that cannot be fixed otherwise. Yet BIR itself, through its repairs to DNA and how it conducts those repairs, can introduce or cause genomic rearrangements and mutations contributing to cancer development.

"It's kind of a double-edged sword," says Anna Malkova, professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Iowa, who has studied BIR since 1995. "The basic ability to repair is a good thing, and some DNA breaks can't be repaired by other methods. So, the idea is very good. But the outcomes can be bad."

A new study led by Malkova, published Jan. 20 in the journal Nature, seeks to tease out BIR's high risk-reward arrangement by describing for the first time the beginning-to-end sequence in BIR. The biologists developed a new technique that enabled them to study in a yeast model how BIR operates throughout its repair cycle. Until now, scientists had only been able to study BIR's operations at the beginning and end stages. The researchers then introduced obstructions with DNA replication, such as transcription--the process of copying DNA to produce proteins--that are believed to be aided by BIR.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/2...omplete-sequence-of-DNA-repair-mechanism.aspx
 
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How modern pet dogs originated from wolves in Ice Age Siberia

newFile-1.jpg


... new research into the early beginnings of cuddly canines – and the long intertwined history between man and his best friend.

Man’s best friend – our four-legged canine pets – originated as Siberian wolves, according to new scientific research.

Until now, scientists only knew that dogs had evolved out of a wolf population somewhere in Asia or Europe – but the new research has now pinpointed the specific region where that occurred and the approximate date that the transformation took place.

A combination of DNA and archaeological evidence has revealed that every poodle, dachshund, chihuahua, alsatian and every other type of dog in the world originated as grey wolves in eastern Siberia in around 21,000BC.

What's more, it's likely that their initial domestication took place entirely naturally – and was not deliberately engineered by humans.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-wolves-siberia-where-come-from-b1792342.html

Interesting study.

From what I read, the widely held theory was dogs were domesticated in middle east Asia 10,000 years ago.

Feeding wolves, can be construed as deliberate domestication?
 
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Forget PS5 DualSense — brain control could be the next big thing for gaming

fyXPDGTY4UrtfbTEwZgg5Z-1024-80.jpg.webp


Valve's Gabe Newell champions brain control interfaces as the future for gaming experiences and beyond

The PS5’s DualSense controller might have next-gen haptics, but the future of game control could be all in your head, literally.

At least that’s what Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of gaming giant Valve, thinks, who touted brain-computer interfaces (BCI) as the potential the future of game control and more. And Valve is working on making powerful BCI tech a reality.

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/forg...ontrol-could-be-the-next-big-thing-for-gaming
 
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Better to avoid repetition of same news, by 2 different posters, within same page at least.
 
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Better to avoid repetition of same news, by 2 different posters, within same page at least.

Thank you. I thought I had seen that article before ;)

Please, feel free to post any interesting related articles or join the discussion.
 
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Interesting study.

From what I read, the widely held theory was dogs were domesticated in middle east Asia 10,000 years ago.

Feeding wolves, can be construed as deliberate domestication?

Yes, that would be a deliberate act, but the article suggests they were foraging through discarded food scraps, and thus became increasingly dependent on humans for their food as they lost their hunting skills.

This article got me thinking about the Australian Dingo which is actually classified as a feral dog because it was once domesticated but reverted back to being semi-wild.

The dingo is regarded as a feral dog because it descended from domesticated ancestors. The dingo's relationship with indigenous Australians is one of commensalism, in which two organisms live in close association, but do not depend on each other for survival. They both hunt and sleep together. The dingo is, therefore, comfortable enough around humans to associate with them, but is still capable of living independently.

Any free-ranging, unowned dog can be socialised to become an owned dog, as some dingoes do when they join human families. Although the dingo exists in the wild, it associates with humans, but has not been selectively bred similarly to other domesticated animals. Therefore, its status as a domestic animal is not clear.

Among the indigenous Australians, dingoes were also used as hunting aids, living hot water bottles, and camp dogs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo


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Yes, that would be a deliberate act, but the article suggests they were foraging through discarded food scraps, and thus became increasingly dependent on humans for their food as they lost their hunting skills.

This article got me thinking about the Australian Dingo which is actually classified as a feral dog because it was once domesticated but reverted back to being semi-wild.

The dingo is regarded as a feral dog because it descended from domesticated ancestors. The dingo's relationship with indigenous Australians is one of commensalism, in which two organisms live in close association, but do not depend on each other for survival. They both hunt and sleep together. The dingo is, therefore, comfortable enough around humans to associate with them, but is still capable of living independently.

Any free-ranging, unowned dog can be socialised to become an owned dog, as some dingoes do when they join human families. Although the dingo exists in the wild, it associates with humans, but has not been selectively bred similarly to other domesticated animals. Therefore, its status as a domestic animal is not clear.

Among the indigenous Australians, dingoes were also used as hunting aids, living hot water bottles, and camp dogs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo


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How were dingos used as hot water bottles?

Also, " dingo took my baby" made me look up dingos back in the days.
 
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